Besides, isn't downvoting someone for nonsensical, petty reasons (and leaving no response as to why, of course) at least as harmful to the overall discussion as referring to those downvotes?
It's a hopeless one. People who downvote generally think you're not worth actually answering. Also note that heated language often gets automatically downvoted. And with few exceptions ("eating babies is bad"), one sided opinions tend to be less popular than anything that appears "balanced".
It's especially tough if your one sided opinion is attacking a popular practice.
> Besides, isn't downvoting someone for nonsensical, petty reasons (and leaving no response as to why, of course) at least as harmful to the overall discussion as referring to those downvotes?
I would imagine so. However, the culture here AFAIK is to down/up vote as one sees fit and not provide an explanation of same.
HTH